Unai Emery eager to end Aston Villa's 'horrible' Newcastle history
Unai Emery has challenged Villa to end their “horrible history” at Newcastle and take down one of their top-four rivals on Sunday.
Villa, who returned from their 1-0 win over Fenerbahce in Turkey during the early hours of Friday morning, face a quick turnaround for the Premier League clash at St James’s Park, a ground at which they have not won in their last 17 visits.
Recent trips have been particularly bruising with the home side winning the last three by an aggregate 12-1 scoreline.
Villa sit third in the table with a 10-point advantage over the Magpies and have won all six league matches immediately following Europa League games this season.
But Emery knows that streak will receive its fiercest examination yet on Tyneside.
He said: “We are challenging a team like Newcastle and they will want to get our position in the table.
“We must recover after the match on Thursday and get focused on our preparation.
“It is a very good test. Always it is difficult at Newcastle and historically the last few years were horrible for us, with very bad results.
“But it is an opportunity. Each match, each season, each moment is an opportunity and I am looking forward to seeing how we face them on Sunday.”
Emery came close to becoming Newcastle boss in 2021 a year before joining Villa and his two trips to St James’s Park have not been dull.
A 5-1 opening day thrashing in 2023 was followed by last season’s 3-0 defeat, notable for Jhon Duran being sent-off for an alleged stamp and a half-time bust-up in the tunnel which saw both clubs fined and Villa analyst Victor Manas given a two-match stadium ban.
Villa are aiming to bounce back from last weekend’s 1-0 home defeat to Everton and Emery said: “We lost a very good opportunity last week and we must accept it.
“Newcastle is now our challenge. They started the season being a contender to be in the top positions in Europe, the Champions League.
“They are performing fantastic in the Champions League. At home they are playing with confidence, feeling strong.
“When we look at the table, we can have confidence.
“But we know they started as a contender to be in the top five. We didn’t. Now we are, we are a team to try to beat.”
Leon Bailey will be in Villa’s squad following his recall from Roma, though John McGinn remains out as he continues to consult with doctors over his knee injury.
Ross Barkley has returned to individual training and could return next week following his own knee problem, while Emery will assess whether fellow midfielder Amadou Onana is ready to start after making a comeback in Thursday’s win.
Marco Bizot is ready to deputise again for Emi Martinez should the latter remain absent with a calf injury.
